When the Lights go Down
by DarkWind13
Summary: Gunter is very loud, that much is known by all his friends. However when Gunter becomes sick and has a problem with his voice he will need to learn how to deal with this change.


~Disclaimer: I don't own Sing or the characters~

Gunter woke up to the sound of his alarm clock. He got up quickly then coughed.

"I must be coming down with a cold or something." He sighed. He stood up to get ready for the rest of the day. He looked on the calendar on his phone. He smiled and called Rosita.

"Are you ready for the big rehearsal today?" He asked when he heard Rosita answer the phone.

"Yeah but that's not for a couple hours yet." Rosita laughed, she was used to Gunter calling her over a big rehearsal.

"I know, but how do you not need the whole day to get pumped up for it?" Gunter replied, and then he coughed again.

"Are you alright?" Rosita asked.

"Ja, it's just possibly a cold, I'll be totally ready for the performance." Gunter replied before coughing again.

"Maybe you should call in sick, Mr. Moon will understand if you aren't feeling well." Rosita suggested, her voice taking on her usual motherly tone.

"No way," Gunter argued back, "I'll be totally ready."

"Alright but please rest at lest until the rehearsal; I don't want you making yourself worse." Rosita finally agreed.

"Sure thing, Rosita." Gunter agreed. After hanging up the phone, Gunter laid down on the couch.

Later, it was time to leave for practice. Gunter got up and coughed again. He rolled his eyes and took a cough drop, hoping that would help him feel better.

"Hello!" Gunter called out like usual when entering the theatre, smiling when he saw all his friends were already there. He coughed again.

"Are you feeling any better Gunter?" Rosita asked him, "It still sounds like you have a pretty bad cough."

"Do you have a cold or something?" Johnny asked.

"Not much of one." Gunter said, "It's just my throat. It's just totally annoying."

"I'll make you some tea." Miss. Crawly offered and went to make some for him.

"Do you need to go home and rest?" Buster offered.

"No, I'm totally fine; we just need to get started with the singing now, ya." He said quickly.

"Alright then, we'll rehearse in the same order we will perform, Ash will go first, followed by Meena, then Mike, then Gunter and Rosita, then Johnny. Remember, this will be performed live for national T.V so we'll have to make sure we get the rehearsals right." Buster instructed. They went to perform.

"Alright, we need to see Rosita and Gunter now." Buster said once it was their turn. The song was going well until Gunter had a large coughing fit.

"Are you alright?" Rosita asked, concerned. Buster stood up about to help Gunter while the others watched concerned.

"I'm fine." Gunter said after a bit of coughing though his voice sounded weaker.

"We're getting you checked out at the doctor's." Rosita insisted, "That cough does not sound like a normal cold."

"Rosita, I'm completely fine." Gunter argued despite his voice still sounding weaker, "We should take it from the top and try again, I can do this."

"I have to agree with Rosita, maybe the doctor will be able to help." Buster said.

"Yeah, I mean I don't want it to get worse." Meena added shyly, hiding behind her ears.

"Fine, I'll go if it means zat much to you." Gunter agreed.

"Do you need a ride there?" Johnny offered.

"I can go myself." Gunter said, "I'm not that sick. Trust me, I'll be ready for the performance, you guys just keep practicing." He left before the others could argue.

"He seems really focused on the performance." Ash noticed.

"Yeah, I guess so." Rosita said, "I mean, he does like being onstage so maybe he was just really excited for it."

"Yeah, I think we could use time to practice instead of guessing how Gunter thinks." Mike replied.

"As much as I wouldn't say it like that, Mike has a point, Gunter will be fine and we still have a lot to get ready for the performance in a few days." Buster said. Just then, Miss. Crawly came down the stairs.

"Sorry, I had a bit of trouble with the tea… I couldn't find the kind Gunter liked. Where did he go?" She asked, to the laughter of everyone else.

Gunter went to the walk-in clinic that they had and waited for his turn.

"Alright, Gunter next." The doctor said. Gunter followed him into a room.

"So, it's your throat and coughing that's the problem?" The doctor asked. Gunter nodded.

"My friends say it sounds worse then a normal cold." He said and coughed.

"Here, let me run some tests." The doctor said.

A bit later, the doctor went to Gunter.

"I have some bad news." He said.

"What is it?" Gunter asked worriedly.

"You have Gradu Tussis" The doctor explained, "It means you are at high risk of gradually losing your voice. The best way to minimize the risk is not speaking loudly and minimizing how much you do talk for a month." The doctor explained.

"I can't, I have a big performance in a couple days!" Gunter exclaimed.

"I'm sorry sir but it would be best for you to rest your voice. You will increase your risk of permanently losing your voice otherwise." The doctor explained.

"If I don't speak as much, my voice would be fine though, right?" Gunter asked.

"Well, there's a good chance that the answer is no, but recovery is more likely with it." The doctor explained.

"There has to be something more I can do to help it get better!" Gunter cried. The doctor wrote a prescription for some medicine.

"Like I said earlier, there is a significant risk of you permanently losing your voice regardless, but this, along with using your voice as little as possible will help. You can talk, but at a quieter volume. Talking louder will further limit your ability to talk." She said. Gunter left the office looking upset. He went to the pharmacy to pick up his prescription, went home and looked in the mirror.

"I will perform at the show. I have to." Gunter said determinedly. His phone rang with Rosita's number.

"Hello." Gunter said, trying to sound like himself.

"Hi, we were all worried about you and wanted to check if you were alright." Rosita explained.

"I'm totally fine, it's just a bad cold. I'll be back to my normal self in time to perform, you can bet on that and tell the others they can bet on it to." Gunter said, faking optimism.

"Okay, that's good, but I still think you should get some rest." Rosita said.

"I'll see you at practice tomorrow." Gunter said and hung up. He sighed and looked at the prescription he was given.

~Gradu Tussis is not a real illness, it is fictional. I just used Google Translate to put "Stage Cough" in Latin~


End file.
